The Games We Play
by Dragonfly-Moonlight
Summary: It started out with a single, simple tip. Little did Dee and Ryo realize where this tip would take them.


Disclaimer: I do not own Fake, and I do not profit financially from writing this. I do own the characters of Ryan O'Connell and Victorea "Torie" Cronkhite. Please ask me first before using them.

Author's Note: This, too, was written using the themes from another livejournal writing challenge community, 30-kisses.

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><p>"They just checked into the hotel, and they're in Room Number Ten," the hotel receptionist said, keeping her voice low as she possibly dared. "Just as you requested, Detective."<p>

"Thank you," Randy "Ryo" McLean said. He then nodded and offered the petite brunette a faint hint of a smile. Then he calmly exited the building, as if she had told him his car was ready. His partner waited for him across the street, the surveillance team ready. Room Ten, thanks to the help of the housekeeping staff, now had listening devices in every corner and spy cameras in every section of the hotel room, with the exception of the bathroom.

A week before the stakeout, an anonymous tip came in about a young couple from Philadelphia. Someone believed the two – one Ryan O'Connell and one Victorea Cronkhite – were smuggling something into the country. What they were bringing in, the caller could not say. It could have been drugs, it could have been human trafficking, or any other kind of felony. No one knew with any certainty, and the precinct realized the tip could be a hoax as well, an effort to lure the police department away from another deal taking place.

However, Commissioner Rose had not wanted to take any chances. The city's crime rate had jumped exponentially in the last two weeks and without warning. Each assault, each theft, each missing person, each murder, and each drug deal resembled organized crime, and organized crime often meant the mafia and a crime boss, and it was the Commissioner's hope to finally catch someone in the act.

Ryo reached the van where Dee and the surveillance team were waiting for him, and he climbed inside after making sure no one saw him. The sandy-haired detective then gave his partner the thumbs up. As he did, Ryo noticed something unusual flicker in Dee's eyes, and the dark-eyed man could not help but be curious about what he caught.

"Something happen?" Ryo asked, moving closer to Dee. His partner shrugged.

"Not really," Dee replied. "They just checked in so . . ."

He let his voice trail off and returned his attention to the equipment, like it was somehow more fascinating than looking at Ryo. His partner's behaviour baffled Ryo, and he touched Dee on the shoulder.

"Not really?" he echoed. "What have they done so far?"

Again, Dee shrugged.

"Not much. They're not really talking to each other, and they're not actually unpacking, either."

"Then what . . ."

"Kissing," Dee interrupted. "And lots of it."

"You mean they're . . ." Ryo could not even say the word without heat rushing to his cheeks. Dee shook his head 'no.'

"They're kissing."

"That's it?"

"That's it," Dee confirmed. He then sighed and shook his head. "I don't think they're the ones behind all of this."

"Maybe so, but the Commissioner still wants us to follow them while they're here," Ryo said.

"The Commissioner's being a dickhead about this," Dee spat. "For Christ's sake, all he has to do is call any of the precincts in Philadelphia to find out about those two instead of making us sit here all night."

Ryo inhaled a deep breath and counted to ten so he would not snap at his partner. While Dee's point was valid and he also wondered why the Commissioner had not done the same, Ryo could not refute their orders. A tip was a tip all the same, and it required some investigation.

"That may be," he said after a moment. "But we still have a responsibility to investigate every lead that comes our way. You know that."

"Yeah . . . doesn't mean I have to like it, though," Dee grumbled.

"I know," Ryo murmured. He squeezed Dee's shoulder gently. "I'm going to contact Rose. Let him know we're ready to go."

"Fine. You do that, and maybe you can suggest to him he call the Philadelphia P.D., too," Dee said.

Ryo shook his head as he slipped his phone out of his jacket pocket. Already, the games were beginning between Dee and Rose, and it was giving him the mother of all headaches. He wished for one moment that the two would get along, but he knew it was a futile thought. Dee and Rose were far too much alike for their own sakes, and clashes in personalities were inevitable. They were frequent as well, and neither Dee nor Rose hesitated in letting each other know where they stood and how they felt.

'Guess it can't be avoided,' he mused, dialing the number to the precinct. 'And Dee _does_ have a point. Rose should call Philadelphia P.D. to find out more about these two. Find out if they're really a threat.'

Within a moment, the call to Rose took place and was over. For the duration of his conversation with the Commissioner, Ryo's eyes never left Dee's hunched form. Every so often, the dark-haired detective adjusted something or tilted his head at something he heard from the hotel room. The instant he hung up, Dee removed the headphones and turned to face him.

"They're on the move," he said, a wicked glint in his eyes. "Dinner at Morimoto's, from the sounds of it. She's got quite the, um, appetite for Japanese food. I have to say, I know how she feels."

"Dee!"

"What?" he asked. "I'm just saying I can relate to her, um, desire for her half-Japanese boyfriend."

"Her boyfriend's half Japanese?" Ryo raised an eyebrow at this. "His last name is O'Connell. How can you tell that he's part Japanese?"

Dee pulled out a picture and tossed it to Ryo. The sandy-haired detective lifted it higher into the light. It was a photo of a man in his mid-twenties with raven black hair and the deepest blue eyes. His arm was around the shoulder of a blond-haired woman, who Ryo surmised to be his girlfriend, the one with him in the hotel room.

At first, he did not see how Dee figured Ryan O'Connell to be part Japanese. Most of the man's facial features were of strong European descent, but Ryo knew from his own dealings with Dee first glances were not always what they appeared to be. He squinted his eyes as he looked closer and saw exactly what Dee had.

"I have our boys following the two to the restaurant," Dee continued. "They might be out for a few hours. After they were done kissing, they were talking about a night on the town."

"A night on the town? After checking in?"

"Philadelphia's not that far from here," Dee replied, shrugging. "A couple hour drive depending on how fast one travels."

"True . . . Who's following them?"

"Drake and J.J. are just down the street, and Ted and Marty are at the opposite end just in case. You know, just listening to them, I think they're here for some shopping and fun, fun, fun," Dee said.

"Then our stakeout will prove it," Ryo replied. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the monitors, saw as the two in question exited the hotel and walked in the direction of Drake and J.J. They were hanging on each other, smiling and laughing, and the detective could tell the two of them were in love. The emotion Ryo saw in the couple triggered something within his own heart, and he found himself slung over Dee's shoulders, his arms wrapped around his partner's body. His lips brushed along Dee's temple.

"They're a lovely couple," he murmured. "I hope you're right about them."

"Me, too," Dee said. "Me, too."

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"What do you think?" Ryan murmured as they walked through the crowded streets. He scanned the streets as discreetly as he could, looking for signs very few would ever even notice. "Is it him?"

"I don't know," his girlfriend replied, her tone as low as his. "We just got here. Very hard to say right now."

"But you are picking up on the signals." He glanced at her and grinned. "I know you are."

"I am," she confirmed. "It's definitely something. I just don't know what it is exactly."

"We'll know in the next few days, though, right?"

"Oh yeah," Torie said, nodding her head. "We'll know. It'll be one big bang, that's for sure."


End file.
